A definition

After Hebrews 10:29-12:3 

Someone asks,

what is faith?

What do

you

say?

It is

conviction

resting

on promises,

a change

in our hearts

so fundamental

that we seem

different

people.

Faith is

an assurance.

Faith is

a conviction

Faith is

a gift,

an active gift,

a living gift

received.

Just ask.

 

Photograph by Billy Pasco via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

Is There a Preferred Bible Translation Christians Should Use? – R. Scott Clark at Beautiful Christian Life.

 

Somewhere a pendulum moves – poem by Irina Ratushinskaya at Kingdom Poets (D.S. Martin).

 

Light – poem by Seth Lewis.

 

The Real Deal – Spencer Klavan at The New Jerusalem.

 

Wisdom is Work – T.M. Suffield at Nuakh. 

A great cloud

After Hebrews 10:29-12:3 

Surrounded by 

a great cloud

of witnesses, those

with us, those

after us, those

like us given

the gift of faith,

a gift that enables

us to run the race

with endurance,

our eyes on the one

who founded our faith,

who perfected out faith,

the one who endured

death, overcoming it.

The witnesses knew,

and know.

Photograph: View from an airplane, somewhere over Indiana/Illinois headed west.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Corpus Christi: 3 Sonnets on Communion – Malcolm Guite.

 

Prince of Poets? The Lost Lyrics of Charles Spurgeon – Geoff Chang at Desiring God.

 

So I have sent them: A sermon on a reading from John 17 – Dan King at Bibledude.

 

God Beckons Through Beauty: Where Our Deepest Longings Lead – Jon Bloom at Desiring God.

 

How Can I Be a Christian in My Workplace? – Alex Chediak at Ligonier.

A fearful thing

After Hebrews 10:29-12:3 

Even against the worst

of those, those who offend,

those who persecute, those

who cheat and defraud you,

even against those,

vengeance is not yours.

You have no license for payback;

you have no right to exercise

an eye for an eye. Vengeance

is not yours. Vengeance 

belongs to the Lord, for

the wrongs against you

are committed against him.

Even against the worst

thrown against us, we do not

strike back. Instead, we hold

to faith.

 

Photograph by Peter Forster via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

Carved in the Ground: St. Brigid’s Well, County Westmeath – Paul Kingsnorth at The Abbey of Misrule.

 

Bringing the Scary Things into the Light – Lara D’Entremont at A Faithful Imagination. 

 

Sonnet from the Ephesians – Barbara Crooker at Kingdom Poets (D.S. Martin). 

 

The Actual Divisive Ones – Mitch Chase at Biblical Theology.